Technology has enriched our lives. But don't ignore the perils of artificial stupidity

This is a commentary by Mark Murphy, a local author and physician. He is a longtime contributor to the Savannah Morning News.

Our species has been in existence for approximately 300,000 years. During most of that time, knowledge was limited to what could be passed down from generation to generation, either via oral history or in-person demonstration. The advent of the written word among the Sumerian people of Mesopotamia about 5,500 years ago forever changed all of that. Suddenly, information could be stored, carried from place to place, and codified. Human beings have been engaged in a perpetual quest for enlightenment ever since.

The Chinese invented the printing press in 1297. Johannes Gutenberg created the moveable type press in 1440. These innovations sparked the first mass dissemination of human knowledge. The next step came in the 1980s, the advent of the internet revolutionized the worldwide distribution of information.

Today, with 63% of the world connected via the web, most of us cannot imagine living without it. But while we have long sought to develop our access to information, we are paradoxically now utilizing our most recent advances in information technology to aid the decline of the greatest survival advantage our species possesses: The human brain.

There’s been a great deal of attention recently paid to artificial intelligence (AI). I’ve even written a column about it for this newspaper. It’s the latest leap forward in information technology, and it has been touted as something which might further transform our lives. But there’s a linked phenomenon that gets far less attention than it should: artificial stupidity, or AS.

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So what exactly is AS?

Can you remember anyone’s telephone number anymore? Of course you can’t. But the numbers are all stored in your phone, right? And giving someone driving directions can be complicated, because road names and turn details have evaporated into the ether of the internet. “Just plug it into the GPS,” people say.

But if the GPS doesn’t work, the GPS-dependent are left to wander in the proverbial wilderness. Many of them cannot read a map. Most don’t even have one.

That’s the essence of artificial stupidity, a unique form of computer-generated idiocy characterized by an over-reliance on technology. AS is only a microcosm of what could happen to the entire world if we are not careful.

If we sat in a La-Z-Boy and clicked the television remote all day, our bodies would undergo an inevitable metamorphosis into barely mobile blobs of adipose tissue. So what happens to our brains when we don’t use them? Do they become more nimble, more agile, more adept at thought?

Nope.

I teach medical students and residents. Instructing the next generation of doctors is a rewarding part of my professional life. Still, one of my greatest challenges is reminding doctors-in-training to do the basic things that good doctors should always do: Listen to your patients. Take a detailed history. Do a careful physical exam.

Today’s physicians are forced to spend far too much time punching data into their laptops, propagating an over-reliance upon labs and x-rays. A doctor who cannot take a good history or do a competent physical exam can easily be replaced by a computer. It’s no wonder that patients in a recent study published in JAMA felt more at ease with questions answered by a ChatGPT-driven AI “doctor” than an actual human one.

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Today’s internet is woven into the fabric of our everyday existence, making shopping, banking, and entertainment easier than ever. But there are profound costs to the over-adoption of modern technology.

Social media have become so adept at spreading disinformation that the average person has a hard time distinguishing what is real. Critical thinking skills in our population have been replaced by knee-jerk regurgitation of rote talking points circulated on Twitter or Instagram. When you add realistic AI-generated images generated by software like Midjourney or well-written essays written by ChatGPT-4, it becomes all too easy to propagate garbage in our society — and atrophied critical thinking skills make it impossible for the average person to know the difference.

The scariest part about our newfound overreliance on technology? It can all go away in an instant.

In September 1869, a geomagnetic storm known as the Carrington Event, caused by a solar flare, resulted in a worldwide disruption in global telegraph services. A similar event in March 1989 knocked out Canada’s entire hydroelectric grid in 92 seconds, causing a blackout which plunged 6 million customers into darkness for over nine hours. A Carrington-type event today could cripple global telecommunications. Weapons designed to emit similar electromagnetic pulses (or EMPs) could cause widespread damaged to unprotected electrical components.

For example, it has been estimated that a 1.4 megaton nuclear weapon detonated about 250 miles above Kansas could destroy much of the unprotected electronic equipment in the continental United States. The Chinese have developed EMP devices specifically designed to knock out the U.S. power grid. Such an attack given pre-emptively could cripple our nation’s capability to respond in the event of war.

Humanity has utilized information technology (IT) to enrich our lives and spread knowledge around the globe. Used properly, IT can be of tremendous benefit to all of us. But an overreliance on such technology, both individually and as a society, sets us up for disaster. I’m all for the wise use of artificial intelligence, but let’s not stumble blindly into the future without being cognizant of the innate perils of artificial stupidity.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Internet and AI make Americans overdependent on digital technology